Advice Re Flexible Working Hours

MagglesUK

I work from home in Customer Service.  I made my employer aware of my ADHD immediately.

They have put some reasonable allowances in place for me which had helped.  However although I need the pay of a full time job I found I wasn't able to cope. I wasn't getting anything done at home, was constantly exhausted and my depression was becoming worse than normal.

Most of the time there is no time between each caller to 'breathe' and there is huge emphasis on how long you take on a call, how long the space is between calls, how long someone might be put on hold if you have to get advice etc etc all the while you're trying to do your best for the person you're speaking to to help them and make sure if they have any problems or queries they get resolved. 

I asked if I could drop two days, happy to stay on the same shifts as my team but needed to have all my days off put together for my mental health and ability to cope.  There are several shift patters and the hours vary from 8am to 5pm to 10am to 7pm

So my days of work were straightforward and I had a good break each week after I had worked to allow me to destress, catch up with housework and do any other jobs I needed to do.

Then they started everyone working the occasional Saturday but my days off were together still so that was fine. Then they increased the number of Saturdays. This messed with my days off and I ended up on some weeks having a day off on Sunday and back in work Monday.  So all my days off were no longer together but as I still had about one week a month where all the days were together I just got on with despite it having an impact on me when I worked a Thur,Fri, Sat and then back in Monday, Tues and Weds.

So now again they want further changes. This time it's that I now have to do Sundays when my team does, they also do a Sat those weekends but finish 1pm on the Sat. 

Now I wasn't doing those Sundays but I was working every Saturday my team did it's just on the weekends they had a Sunday they finished at 1pm on Saturday and I was doing a full day because I didn't do the Sunday.

So the proposed changes now mess up the days off completely for me and most weeks the days off are now split and I rarely have the long several days off I used to which helped me cope.

I know I will not be able to manage with how they are proposing to put my shifts and I'm already massively depressed and have spent the last two days crying because of it. My anxiety is through the roof that it's giving me palpitations and tightness in my chest. And this is all before I even agree or disagree to anything.

So basically do I have any rights here? Is there anything I can do other than try to find another job? I don't want to leave as I enjoy the aspect of helping people. The irony I just had an award off the company for keeping the most customers in a particular area of the business and this is then what they do

I know one other person on the team is also part time and they too have been asked to work the same shifts they work part time because they have kids.

Can I refuse and offer to stay on the same shifts I have been doing?

I'm going to try to work out shifts myself as well incase there is anything I might be able to suggest.

Any advice would be greatly appreciated. I can't afford to go anywhere where I have to pay for advice...

If it's a pattern nobody is happy with that becomes their final offer.... can I refuse and if they dismiss me would I have any rights in that?

Alex_Alumni

Hi there @MagglesUK and thanks for reaching out, you might like to read this post in our Cerebral Palsy category, I've been catching up with things today, and noticed some similarities about the general changes to work patterns that you have been experiencing. 

I would encourage you to contact ACAS, who can offer free, confidential advice. They also have information on reasonable adjustments for employees and employers, as well as disability discrimination. 

If you feel there's anything we can do to help further, please ask, and keep us updated with how things go. Be sure to look after your own mental wellbeing as a priority, as I'm sure the stress can have a big impact. 

Stellar

MagglesUK said:

So basically do I have any rights here? Is there anything I can do other than try to find another job? I don't want to leave as I enjoy the aspect of helping people. The irony I just had an award off the company for keeping the most customers in a particular area of the business and this is then what they do.

Despite what the law say, there isn't much you can do. What you can do is:

Start looking for another job asap because they're managing you out by giving you shifts they know you can't do. They know what they are doing and are building a paper trail. That award means little (although you can use it as an accolade in future job interviews).

Ideally, you should quit immediately. The anxiety and stress you're feeling is your body telling you that you have to leave. If you don't leave, your long term career and health will suffer (i say that from experience).

Look into applying for UC to top up your income on this next job, cause realistically you're gonna have to go part time or self-employed from home, or not work at all.

Go to your GP to get a sick-note as well to cover your back both from your employer and the DWP (UC won't sanction people who had to leave their last job on medical grounds).